April

Lawyers Journal

Task force aims to tackle factors impacting workplace injuries

MBA Vice President Douglas K. Sheff is leading a
multidisciplinary group of professionals to analyze and make
recommendations to advance safety in workplaces throughout
Massachusetts.

The Workplace Safety Task Force are focusing their efforts on:

Identifying dangerous practices and trends in the
workplace;

Promoting practices to prevent or reduce accidents, injuries
and fatalities; and

Advocating for improved support care and services, including
legal, medical and vocational services.

To address the tasks at hand, the collective expertise and
backgrounds of the group goes beyond just the legal field. A member
of the Legislature, researchers and physicians, as well as other
occupational safety and health experts, will complement the
participating attorneys in the group.

"This is one of the most meaningful groups I've been involved
with," said Sheff, who credits the comprehensive nature of it for
adding such excitement to its agenda.

The task force realized its first victory of that agenda at the
March 10 House of Delegates meeting when the delegation voted to
endorse the "Right to Know" bill currently pending before the Joint
Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.

The bill would mandate that workers get information on safety
hazards on the jobsite. It would also update the Employment Agency
Law to better level the playing field for all temporary employment
and staffing agencies while ensuring rights are guaranteed to
members of the temporary workforce.

For workers, it would mandate that key details of job assignments
are provided in writing; for businesses, it would ensure all
employment and staffing agencies are subject to the same
registration process; and for the commonwealth, it would lessen the
resources and cost of hearings and inspections resulting from
inequitable registration and other standards.

"This group and its recommendations have the potential to make a
profound and lasting impact on workplace safety within the next
couple of years," added Sheff.